Driver assistance systems of the general type under consideration are known and serve to reduce the severity of an accident or entirely avoid an accident through autonomous braking of a motor vehicle, which can also be referred to as partial braking, just before an anticipated collision of the motor vehicle with a preceding vehicle. A preceding vehicle detection device is known for generating the necessary signals for triggering the autonomous braking.
A disadvantage with conventional driver assistance systems is that the autonomous braking is aborted if the preceding vehicle detection device no longer detects a preceding vehicle. It has become apparent that such driver assistance systems frequently terminate the autonomous braking too early, with the result that the risk of collision and the potential intensity of the accident increase.